Michigan teachers pay an average of less than 5 percent of insurance premiums; Same true for Midland, Bay and Saginaw County teachers

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, January 7, 2010

More than 95 percent of Michigan school districts' 2008-09 health insurance costs are available online, according to Mackinac Center Director of Education Policy Michael Van Beek.

The database contains information reported directly from schools on their employer-provided health insurance plans. Details include the plan provider, plan title, monthly premium costs, employee contributions and number of enrollees.

"District-provided employee insurance costs Michigan taxpayers nearly $2 billion per year," Van Beek said in a press release. "This database provides many important details about how that money is being spent at the district level."

Van Beek highlighted data provided by schools in Midland, Bay and Saginaw counties. In these three counties, he said the average annual family premium for plans offered to teachers was $15,400. The average employee contribution to these premiums was $711, or 4.6 percent. These figures were close to the statewide average for the same type of plans. The state average premium for teachers was $15,786, with employees contributing $655, or 4.2 percent. Data for Midland Public Schools was not available.

Van Beek said both the statewide average and the figures from Midland, Bay and Saginaw counties surpass the Michigan average cost for all employer-provided health insurance premiums. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that the 2008 average family premium in Michigan was $11,321 and employees contributed $2,522, or 22 percent of the cost of their monthly premiums.

Several area school districts are trying to control employee health insurance costs, Van Beek said. Some districts limit their contribution to monthly premiums and allow employees to choose from a number of plans. The employees then pay the difference between the premium of the plan they choose and the district's contribution. Some larger districts, like Midland, are partially or completely self-insured, which enables them to control costs by only paying for actual claims made by employees.

"Rising health insurance costs combined with declining enrollment and state-based tax revenue makes it imperative for schools to explore new ways of reducing employee insurance costs," Van Beek said in the press release. "This database can assist school districts in that endeavor."